Support Kosovo and its independence
The people of Kosovo, now an independent state, were spared outright genocide in 1999, ten years ago, when the 78-day US-led NATO operation brought an end to the Serbian onslaught in Kosovo.
By Muhamet Hamiti
The peple of Kosovo, now an independent state, were spared outright genocide in 1999, ten years ago, when the 78-day US-led NATO operation brought an end to the Serbian onslaught in Kosovo.
12,000 Kosovor Albanians were slaughtered (thousands are still unaccounted for), half of the population was violently deported, and close to 130,000 homes burned or leveled by the Serb war machinery. After Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia, this was the fourth war of aggression waged by Slobodan Milosevic’s Serbia during the 1990s.
Kosovo and Serbia had for centuries been under Ottoman rule. Kosovo was briefly liberated from Ottoman rule in 1912, to only being conquered by the encroaching Serbia.
Decades of Serbian and Yugoslav rule followed, with varying degrees of autonomy for Kosovo. The 1974 Constitution of Yugoslavia saw Kosovo becoming an equal federal entity, with veto rights at the federal level, just like Serbia.
The ‘Butcher of the Balkans’, Milosevic, illegally and violently stripped Kosovo of its federal entity status in 1989.
The political struggle of the Kosovors for freedom and independence, led by the independence leader, President Ibrahim Rugova, and the Kosovo Liberation Army’s armed struggle, gave birth to Kosovo’s freedom in June 1999. Almost a decade of international administration followed, before Kosovo declared its independence more than a year ago, on February 17, 2008.
A long international process to determine the status of Kosovo had been concluded, under the chairmanship of UN Special Envoy for the Status of Kosovo, President Marti Ahtisaari, and the stewardship of the Contact Group, comprised of the US, the UK, France, Italy, Germany, and Russia.
Kosovo is a functioning state and has today all the attributes of nationhood. A flag and an anthem. A President, a Parliament, a Government, democratically elected; a clear separation of labour and powers between the legislative, the executive and the judiciary. A vibrant democratic system. A multi-ethnic, secular society and state, with religious rights and unique tolerance amongst the Muslim and Christian Albanians, Muslim Albanians and Christian Serbs, as well as the other faiths. 90% of the people are ethnic Albanians, the rest Serbs, Slavic-speaking Muslims, Turks, and Roma communities.
The Republic of Kosovo has got a lot to offer to foreign investors: mining, energy, as well as agriculture, are the main areas, with a lot of potential for cultural and winter tourism in the future. Last but not least, we have a young and entrepreneurial population.
The transition of Kosovo to independence was by and large smooth last year. Serbia has, however, sponsored parallel Serb structures in parts of Kosovo, especially in the north. The aim of the former occupier is to challenge the very existence of Kosovo’s nationhood.
Serbia has in addition, through the UN, referred the issue of Kosovo’s declaration of independence to the International Court of Justice (ICJ). The ICJ will deliver an advisory opinion, not a binding one, which should in no way affect Kosovo’s stature as an international actor. 35 countries have made their submissions, the majority of whom support Kosovo’s case for independence. Siding with Serbia and Russia in the case is as absurd as supporting today, from hindsight, Milosevic’s war aims in Kosovo a decade ago, for which he was being tried in the ICTY, another UN body, when he died a natural death in a jail cell.
Top Serbian political and military leaders, Milosevic’s henchmen, have been tried and sentenced by the United Nations body for their joint criminal enterprises in Kosovo. They lost the Kosovo war, because the values of freedom and human dignity prevailed in June 1999.
The world should recognise Kosovo, and call a bluff to Serbia’s preposterous efforts to portray itself as an aggrieved party. For God’s sake: As if it was Kosovo, Slovenia, Croatia, and Bosnia who initiated wars of aggression against Serbia, and not the other way round.
Kosovo has so far been recognized by 60 countries around the globe, which amount to 70 percent of the world’s GDP. Saudi Arabia recognised us in late April. Many others will follow suit. And they should, for Kosovo is a sui generis case which cannot set a precedent for other situations in the world.
Kosovo has been recognised by 22 out of the 27 EU members, most of the NATO countries, and last but not least, 7 out of the G 8 countries. Excepting Russia, that is.
The people of the Republic of Kosovo have earned their right to live in their own home, free from Serbian occupation, aspiring to become part of the family of free nations from all continents.
This is, therefore, a call to nations around the globe which have not yet formally recognised us, a young and peaceful nation: Recognise the independence of Kosovoa – embrace a new nation that has embraced you, the world of freedom and dignity.
Dr Muhamet Hamiti is Chargé d’Affaires a.i. of the Republic of Kosovo to the UK
Support Kosovo and its independence